Product Spotlight: Beyond Affinity
Building Credibility and Impact as a Strategic Resource
 As organizations have come to understand the need to recruit, develop, and retain diverse workforces, they have partnered with Novations to help them get the most out of their Affinity or Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). Creating affinity groups, diversity councils, and steering committees has been one of the most-requested services of the Novations diversity and inclusion experts. Over the years we have partnered with companies around the world to kick-off, sustain, and build their internal resource groups in support of creating inclusive cultures. Fast-forward two decades: these groups have matured as businesses face stiff economic challenges, reduced workforces, and limited resources. But for some Affinity Groups maturity has not meant an increase in impact or reputation; many groups find themselves branded as serving a limited constituency and not being business-oriented. Is this indication of a clash or synchronicity? Instead of viewing Affinity Groups as cost centers or social outlets that are expendable during lean times, consider how leveraging the talent, passion, and experience of your ERG membership can impact your strategic goals. Move Beyond Affinity and unleash the power of your employee resource groups.
CREATING STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT
Novations' latest offering is a unique facilitated training session that uses a set of templates designed to help you align ERG efforts with the strategic work of the organization. You won't leave your membership and mission behind; in fact, you'll increase the profile of your ERGs as inclusion-focused teams that explicitly serve individual, team, and organizational goals. Beyond Affinity focuses on identifying and deepening the connection to your organization's strategic goals. With this business-centered approach, your ERG activities can flow into alignment, engaging more people in the core work of the organization while providing an important networking and career development outlet. NOVATIONS' DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION
Like all Novations solutions, Beyond Affinity brings both a mindset shift and a development framework. It challenges ERG leaders, members, and sponsors to consider their internal brand—are the groups dismissed as social functions? Cost centers? Are they disconnected from larger successes and business objectives? Do the ERGs struggle to secure even minimum levels of funding and sponsorship? The program's framework gives you the tools to change those perceptions and realities with positioning and activities to recast the group's role and impact. INCREASE REPUTATION AND IMPACT
This unique program is perfect for leaders, members, and sponsors who want to: Change the perception of their ERG within the organization
Reach a higher level of impact for the ERGs and themselves
Move existing ERGs to a higher maturity level
Start out new ERGs with a business- and member-centric approach
For HR and D&I leaders, the program will help you: Tie D&I work to larger business goals and strategy
Position ERGs as being strategic entities that contribute to the bottom line
Identify ERG leaders and members as experts who have self-selected to contribute at a high level and who represent distinct awareness, passion, and experience that can be leveraged in new ways
FAST AND EFFECTIVE
Beyond Affinity is a one-day facilitated session at your location that includes user-friendly online templates. It is aligned with the Four Stages® of Contribution Model and supports all of Novations' inclusion-driven development offerings, including Efficacy, Appreciating Differences™, Managing Inclusion™ and TalentDevelopment®. For more information on Beyond Affinity, contact your Global Novations representative. Be sure to catch our complimentary March 3 webinar (see below).
 Client Spotlight: Pfizer, Inc.
As the world's largest biopharmaceautical company, Pfizer has a diverse workforce of 115,000 employees worldwide. It also has dozens of affinity groups, with different missions, operating independently around the world. Pfizer has partnered with Novations and used the planning model and tools found in Beyond Affinity to connect the work of its Colleague Resource Groups with the company's business goals. We've captured this success story in a webinar, scheduled for Wednesday, March 3. NOVATIONS WEBINAR SERIES PRESENTS:
Unleashing the Power of Affinity Groups: Four Steps to Creating Business Impact Jan Thibodeau and Sandra Bushby
Join Jan Thibodeau of Novations and Sandra Bushby of Pfizer for this upcoming webinar. Learn how Pfizer was able to harness the power of these programs, people, and energy and position its resource groups as strategic resources. Participants will: Understand how and how why to rebrand your Affinity Groups from social networks to business units
Learn how to maximize the impact of Affinity or Employee Networking Groups by aligning them with them around the organization's business goals
Understand how the Four Stages Impact Model can be leveraged to support the organization's diversity strategy, grow business, and increase engagement of employees at all levels
UNLEASHING THE POWER OF AFFINITY GROUPS
Wednesday, March 3 | 1:00pm ET
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Global Novations
Inside Intel: Creating and Implementing a Global Development Program presented by Douglas Maxfield of Novations and Steve Backers and Cindy Wiggin of Intel 
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